Features

Measuring camshaft clearances We tend to take camshafts for granted, or at least I did until quite recently. Coaxing a little more power out of our Suzuki Katana meant that, like it or not, I had to get to grips with a little cam technology. But before we plunge too deeply into the strange world…

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Ducati 900SS FE It’s 1991 and the Bologna SuperSport machines feature a white frame which sets off the blood-red colour scheme perfectly, I thought it couldn’t get any better, but fast-forward seven years and my ultimate incarnation of 900SS is born – the FE or ‘Final Edition’. The FE was built to celebrate the last…

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Suzuki GT550 – often overlooked Suzuki wasn’t the first on the market with modern two-stroke triples but for many their arrival four years after Kawasaki’s H1 represented time well spent within the R&D Dept. Rather than compete head on with the banzai nature of the competition, the Hamamatsu boys produced three well considered machines under…

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Suzuki 250 was popular In 1968 Yamaha launched their ground breaking DT-1. A Japanese company had finally invested in developing a reliable, well mannered and economical off-road machine. Until that point the only competition had mostly been big and heavy British bikes. The only alternatives came from Greeves, Montesa and Husqvarna, but they were all…

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Yamaha RD350LC Pricey, but still worth the money because these bikes will continue to go up in value. In 50 years of Japanese motorcycles few machines have genuinely made classic status. These are the elite. In some cases it comes with racing pedigree, others simply changed our world. Honda’s RC30 is already a classic because it was based heavily…

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Suzuki GT750 workshop rebuild We've departed from the magazine's series slightly and joined the rebuild on reassembly, mainly because this was a seven parter in print. We've honed it to four. Our bike is a 1976 registered GT750A, engine no. 74465, frame no 81196, of which approximately 14,000 models were produced. The engine number and…

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Makes notes before disconnecting loom… An average 1970s 250 weighs around 150 kilos and if we assume an approximate 50/50 weight distribution then the front steering races are coping with a 75kg load whenever the bike is off the stands. Factor in a rider and we’re looking at least another 35 kilos over the front…

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Honda CB1100F Produced in 1983 for the US and European markets (it was inexplicably not an official UK import), the 1100F had the same air-cooled four-cylinder engine but with less of the hand-crafted attention that made the 1100R so much of a cult bike. Nonetheless, the 1100F offered much of the 1100R’s 140mph performance in…

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Honda 650 Bros A narrow engine lying in the natural V of a frame with a loping power delivery; the set up became iconic in the formative years of motorcycling. The 650cc category was once at the very edge of big bike territory but with the advent of late 70s Superbikes it effectively fell into…

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Yamaha FZ750 You’ve got to feel sorry for Yamaha sometimes. Their timing is terrible. So many times they launch a good bike and it gets aced by the opposition. Okay, so there are exceptions (350LC, R1, etc) but the FZ750 is only now reaping the appreciation it deserved when it was brand new. When it…

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